Natural Calamities are Root Causes BUT Who/Where's the Culprit ?

 Natural Calamities are Root Causes BUT Who/Where's the Culprit ?

😢Whose heart won't get pierced and bleed to death with tragedies after tragedies, all because of natural calamities?  An expat resident in our community sighed in frustration by way of sharing that ever since he came over to his current country of residence, he has went through volcanic eruption, horrendous traffic, unprecedented drought, turbulent and seismic waves, torrential rains leading to engulfing floods till the post-calamity will trigger various illnesses that will creep hapless communities causing a heavy toll on the less fortunate and struggling population.

When the population endures the scorching heat of rain-less days and weeks, it gets battered and drained by the heavily polluted environment caused by hundreds of thousands of smoke-belchers out in the road.  So does it surprise us if practically every week or so, you would hear one [either in your community or at work] suddenly becoming unwell?  And wait till finally rainfall comes.  These days, you don't need a heavy downpour to cause floods.  Just typical rains for about half an hour will trigger those floods even in a supposedly highly urbanized metropolitan community.  No thanks to clogged drainages which further clog waterways that lead towards the arteries that will supposedly relieve the urban areas of floodings.  But at the end of the day, what's staring in our eyes are the ripple effects of cloggings from households to communal drainage systems which rightfully should find its way to the next creek that flows down to the wider waterway that further finds its way out to the nearest 'catch basin' to avert any potential overflows within the communities.

Run back to our forests and what do we witness?  Denuded expanse of land waiting for the next  volume of rainfall to trigger floods down the communities.  We owe mother nature an explanation no less.  And no thanks to big-time syndicates of illegal logging yet how far have authorities gone to crack the whip?  Yes they have slapped wrists left and right but that's about it.  And the government authorities will go through the motion of filing an administrative complaint against WHO?  That hapless worker running the chainsaw?  But the buck stops there.  Where's that bigtime illegal logger?  He's beyond reach.  Not even the arms of the law can reach him.

Knock-knock.  Here comes the most favorite, popular and most abused jargon 'DISASTER CONTINGENCY' bannered all over when an incoming typhoon forecast is finally let out of the bag.  But what's the score?  You would hear, see and feel the whole bureaucracy moving heaven and earth just before that dreaded typhoon's expected landfall.  At the aftermath of another tragedy, out goes those banner stories of DISASTER CONTINGENCY.  By that time, things revert back to normal.  Politicos go back to their sworn agenda in office, that is to ensure they remain entrenched and ready enough for the next political battle, fielding either the spouse, next sibling, next son, name it.  When rightfully, DISASTER RECOVERY PLANNING should happen round-the-clock BEFORE, DURING and AFTER.  Unfortunately, politicos are NOT the sole culprits for this vicious cycle.  Blame the media for being that tamed and timid and in today's digital technology, media gets MUTED, pronto.

Swing over to the other end of the spectrum,  Have you witnessed throngs and tons of commuters clogging almost half of a major metro thoroughfare, with their necks all stretched out and upwards, waiting for the next public transport to come?  Looks a common setting anyone in the third world.  Digging deep into this issue, what's the culprit?  Transportation?  Nope sir.  It's you, it's us, it's this exploding and unwieldy population that's triggering all these harsh realities.

Over to China, the world's most populated state.  Once their regime opens the floodgates for its population to go on vacation, isn't this a typical sighting?  Swimmers literally rubbing elbows alongside all the incessant push from the unwieldy crowd?  Who's the culprit?  The government?  Nope sir, it's that over-population that has gone up beyond the rafters.

Now, let's swing over to a sector of our society, a sector pitifully neglected, those public prisons.  If population has imploded out in our communities, what else do we expect within those public prisons?  And when you throw in the fact that we're all in this long-drawn pandemic, what do we have at hand?  Nothing less than another recipe waiting for the next tragedy to happen.  And we don't even want to banner prison riots because that has become more of a footnote.

At the end of the day, who bears the brunt of all these?  It's our Mother Earth no less.  Fifteen to twenty years back, environmentalist spearheaded the global campaign to push for a no-nonsense global climate change mindset.  Even Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his vociferous push for global climate change.  Frustratingly, and this is the saddest truth, even trailblazers like Al Gore can only do so much.  Our fate really lies in our own hands.  Go over your home's kitchen and revisit your trash disposal.  Just dumping a big plastic bag out there?  Anyway, the government contractor will pick it up come next day?  And before that rickety garbage truck comes, the astray dogs have thrown a monkey wrench out of those garbage bags dumped out there, waiting for predators to lord it over.  Poor grief.  Poor us.😢